Chimney structure



Jan. 13, W, GREENE CHIMNEY STRUCTURE Fi1ed`0ct. 4, 1956 L- a4; s

IN VENTOR 22 WML/AM L. GREfA/f ATTORNEYS CHIMNEY STRUCTURE William L. Greene, Annapolis, 'Md., assignor to Rogers, Tallaferro & Lamb, Architects, Annapolis, Md., a partnership Application October 4, 1956, Serial No. 613,890

3 Claims. (Cl. 98-58) This invention relates to chimneyv structures and more particularly to an improved chimney construction which eliminates smoke stain from the top of the chimney and prevents the reversal of smoke in the chimney by the action of exterior Winds.

principal object of the present invention is the provlslon of an improved chimney construction for the elimination of smoke stain and the prevention of down-draft caused by exterior winds and which accomplishes these results without requiring any modication to the exterior symmetry of the chimney. Another object of the invention is the provision of an lmproved chimney which accomplishes the foregoing results by the use, with the usual smoke flue, of a ventilated chamber surrounding the flue which forms an integral part of the regular chimney.

Still another object of the present invention is the accomplishment of the foregoing objects by the use of Ventilating means which serve to direct horizontal external winds vertically upwardly around the smoke ue to provide an ascending curtain of upwardly flowing air which deflects horizontally moving wind at the chimney top away from the chimney thereby preventing the wind from blowing down into the chimney.

Yet another object` of the invention is to provide in combination with the aforesaid Ventilating means, throttling or restricting m-eans to increasel the velocity in a vertical direction of the external air entering said chamber surrounding said smoke llue.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a chimney having a ventilated chamber near its upper end and wherein external air may be warmed by the heated smoke flue to provide an upwardly moving current of air which may act alo-ne or in conjunction with horizontal winds, depending on ambient wind conditions, to provide at all times a vertical current around the smoke ilue.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of an improved chimney construction for accomplishing the foregoing purposes which requires no costly or unsightly departure from the regular practice of chimney construction.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of an improved chimney construction which can be readily constructed in situ or is adaptable for prefabrication in a variety of materials.

Other objects and their attendant advantages will become apparent as the following detailed description is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. l is a depiction of a typical mo-dern dwelling provided with a chimney constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a top-plan view of the chimney illustrated in Fig. 1 taken substantially on the line 2 2 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the chimney taken substantially along the line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

Referring now to the'drawings and particularly to Fig. 1 thereof, there is illustrated a typical modern single-story Patented Jan. 13, 1959 dwelling 10 having a roof 12 only slightly peaked in the modern style. Associated with the building is a chimney 14 constructed in accordance with the present invention and having relative short wide dimensions to harmonize architecturally with the design of the overall building structure. The chimney illustrated is of a double smoke Hue construction to provide for both a fireplace and a furnace but as will become fully apparent hereinafter, the invention is not limited to double-flue chimneys but can be employed with equal facility with chimneys having a single ue or any number of ues. The chimney illustrated is of masonry construction, though the invention is not limited to masonry chimneys. Provided be low the top of the chimney on each of the four sides thereof are a plurality of spaced Ventilating openings 16 all disposed on a common level about the chimney.

It is contemplated that in the case of brick chimneys the openings could preferably have a Width of one brick and a height of three bricks so as to blend harmoniously with the brick masonry of the chimney. The openings can have any other practical width or height desired but it has been found in practice that a one to three ratio presents a pleasing architectural elect consonant with the intended purpose of the openings. Additionally, in the case of a brick chimney, it has been found that each opening can be separated from the next by the width of one brick though this can be varied as desired.

With reference now to Figs. 2 and 3, the chimney of the invention comprises the usual terra cotta smoke flues 18 and 20 surrounded solidly by masonry, such as the bricks 22 illustrated, to a point substantially below the top of the chimney but to a height nevertheless above thev however, from the bottom of the opening 16 to the chim-` ney top, instead of now solidly surrounding the flues, the masonry is spaced therefrom to form an elongated vertical chamber 24 about the exterior walls of all of the flues of the chimney. Preferably in the case of brick construction, every predetermined number of courses, bricks, such as tho-se illustrated at 26, are arranged to engage the sides of the flues to assure rigidity thereof in the chimney. Preferably, the projecting bricks engage the flues at the joints thereof as illustrated at 2S as well as at spaced points along the sides of the flue.

As clearly shown in Fig. 3, each of the openings 16 is separated or bailed from the adjacent opening by a wall of masonry 30 equal in height at least to that of the openings and the supporting bricks 26 thereabove are aligned with these walls.

The chamber 24 above the baille walls 30 is connected to each of the openings 16 by a passageway having a slanted throat portion 34 formed between the side walls 30 separating each opening and its passageway from adjacent openings and passageways. The throat may be formed by sloping masonry 36 adjacent the liue inwardly of the opening 16 and by a sloping upper wall 33. With this arrangement, the exterior winds blowing into the openings are deflected upwardly between the baffles and, upon entering the chamber 24 commingle with air above the bafes which has been warmed by the heated smoke flue. On the Windward side of the chamber, therefore, the air therein is projected upwardly by the throats 34 through paths 32 formed between the support bricks 26 to produce a vertical current of air on the Windward side of the chimney which, due to this projection in combination with the rising heated air, has substantially greater velocity than the horizontal wind. This vertically moving air deflects upwardly the horizontal winds away assale? from the flues thereby preventing or counteracting any tendency of the horizontal wind to blow do-wn the chimney. Though a major portion of the entering wind is directed vertically upward by the throat to pass out of the chamber 24 on the Windward side of the chimney as explained, a portion of the entering wind is thought to be expended in creating a uniform pressure rise throughout the chamber 24 surrounding the ues which combines with the rising heated air on the lee side to escape upwardly through the passages 32 on that side of the flues, pushing upwardly away from the chimney top smoke emitted therefrom, thereby eliminating any possibility of smoke stain. In addition to eliminating smoke stain, this vertically ascending air also has the effect of propelling substantially upwardly any sparks which may be entrained in the smoke so that these cannot fall to the roof on the lee side of the chimney as might be the case with low wide chimneys not constructed in accordance with the present invention. By being propelled upwardly into the atmosphere, the sparks in most instances are provided with suicient extra time to burn themselves out prior to the time that they move away from the influence of the vertically moving air.

If desired, the chamber 24 may be provided with a gutter 40 entirely surrounding the flues and adapted to receive rain water. The gutter can be drained in a variety of ways such as by small pipes 42 or other openings leading to the exterior of the chimney.

It is believed from the above description that the operation and function of the present invention should be apparent. It should be noted that the bafes or walls 30 extending into engagement with the smoke ues are important adjuncts of the invention. No-t only do they provide necessary structural support for the smoke ue in the region of the openings 16 but they also form with the slanting throat portions a series of separate nozzlelike passages to impart a positive initial vertical projection f the exterior Winds towards the open top of the chamber 24. Were it not for this action, the pressure of exterior winds would be diffused turbulently throughout the chamber 24 without providing a curtain of vertical moving air of increased velocity on the windward side of the chimney of sufficient force to deflect upwardly strong horizontal winds. With the arrangement described, this curtain is positively provided to prevent any possibility of down-draft and the harder the wind blows the more effective is the down-draft prevention. During periods of calm weather where there is no exterior wind, air entering the chamber 24 is heated (as occurs in any event) to rise uniformly around the smoke ue to prevent staining which might otherwise be caused by turbulence of the smoke as it passes the upper edge of the chimney top. lt is considered within the purview of the invention that the sloping walls 36 and 38 may converge slightly in the upward direction to provide a throttling effect in the throat porti-on itself. It is also contemplated that the baffle walls 30 could extend upwardly beyond the upper edge of the wall 38, if desired, to provide a more positive upward projection of horizontal winds entering the opening 16. However, chimneys already constructed in accordance with the invention have been arranged substantially as shown and have produced excellent results without the necessity of additional throttling afforded by the above-mentioned arrangements. It should be noted that a masonry chimney constructed in accordance with the invention requires no special skill outside the ability of the ordinary mason. However, it should also be noted that a chimney incorporating the features of the invention could be fabricated of any of a plurality of materials utilized in chimney construction, as for example, in the construction of prefabricated chimneys of metal which surround masonry smoke ues, as are found particularly in low cost housing developments.

The chimney has been illustrated and generally described in connection with a dwelling. However, it should be expressly understood that the invention is not limited to such use but may be found useful in connection with factory or other large chimneys. The modications above described and other variations in the invention m-ay be resorted to without departing from the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A chimney comprising a tlue and a coextensive outer covering material, a chamber formed at the upper end of said chimney between said ue and sai-d outer covering material and having an open to-p adjacent the top of said ue and having a closed bottom a substantial distance below the top of said flue and formed by solid engagement of said covering material with said flue, a plurality of passageways on all sides of said chimney adjacent the bottom of said chamber and extending through the outer covering material from the exterior thereof to said fiue and communicating with the bottom of said chamber, the side walls of said passageways extending vertically upwardly a height less than the height of said chamber and forming vertical transverse baes separating each opening and passageway from adjacent openings and passageways, said passageways having an inwardly and upwardly sloping bottom wall for deecting horizontal winds entering said openings upwardly into said chamber.

2. The chimney of claim 1 wherein said passageways have in addition an inwardly and upwardly sloping top wall.

3. A chimney comprising a smoke ue member having an open top, masonry surrounding said ue member from the botto-m to the top thereof, said masonry at the upper end of said chimney being spaced from said flue member to form a chamber surrounding said flue member and having an open top adjacent the top of said ue and a bottom formed a substantial distance below the top of said flue member by solid engagement of said masonry with said flue member, a plurality of passageways on all sides of said chimney adjacent the bottom of said chamber and extending through the masonry from the exterior thereof to said flue member and communicating with the bottom of said chamber, the side walls of said passageways extending upwardly a height less than the height of said chamber and separating each opening and passageway from adjacent openings and passageways, a plurality of vertically spaced supporting members embedded in said masonry and projecting from the interior wall of said chamber and into abutment with said ue, said supporting members being vertically aligned with said side walls, each of said passageways having an upwardly slanting throat between said side walls for directing ambient winds into said chamber.

References Cited in the flle of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,070,436 Ferguson Aug. 19, 1913 1,764,219 McDonald et al. June 17, 1930 2,319,884 Robbins May 25, 1943 2,588,496 Deuinger May 11, 1952 2,601,663 Lamb June 24, 1952 2,660,105 Sabin Nov. 24, 1953 

